These Shoulders Are Only So Big
by IvyBlooms
Summary: Jafar can do whatever he wants to Jay, but the second he touches his friends, all bets are off. OR Jafar makes some very unwanted advances on Evie.


**Title:** These Shoulders Are Only So Big

**Rating: **T

**Pairings: **Platonic Core Four. I also couldn't help myself but throw in a little Jaylos, but it's definitely not the main focus.

**Summary: **Jafar can do whatever he wants to Jay, but the second he touches his friends, all bets are off. OR Jafar makes some very unwanted advances on Evie.

**Notes:** When will I get over my Descendants obsession? Probably never. Please excuse any typos and enjoy!

* * *

"I'm going to murder Jafar." Mal snarled one afternoon during lunch, "I just thought you should know since he is still your father."

"What's he done to earn your pissy-ness this time, dragon breath?" Jay asked, nonchalance saturated his tone as he dug through his pile of pilfered goods—it'd been a decent morning, but there was always room for improvement.

When Mal didn't answer, silently seething, Jay looked up and was shocked (and captivated) by the unusually intense shade of green that her eyes were glowing. So, it looked like whatever Jafar had done was far more serious than just simply cheating Mal out of some fancy trinket.

"What did he do, Mal?"

Mal released a harsh breath and curled her slim fingers into deceptively delicate fists on the table. "He _touched _Evie."

Jay froze and considered Mal's words carefully. Touched could mean any number of things—a leading hand on the back, a tap on the shoulder, fingers gripping hair, a presumptuous hand groping an ass—Jay had been both on the receiving and delivering end of those particular touches and on the Isle, touch was inevitable. But it didn't take smarty pants genius intelligence like Carlos' for Jay to figure out exactly what sort of _touch_ Mal was referring to.

"She told you this?"

Mal bared her teeth like the truly rabid villain kid she was, "I _saw _him. He pushed her against the wall in the shop and tried to kiss her. When she turned away, he grabbed her by the chin and forced her." Mal snatched one of Jay's acquired trinkets—a rusty broken pocket watch—and chucked it across the room. "He only stopped because I walked in then. I nearly tore his arms off, but Evie was upset." Mal paused, gazing hatefully and the now shattered watch and said, "It wasn't the first time."

That was all Jay needed to hear. "I'll take care of it."

Mal's head whipped around and her eyes glowed even more fiercely, if that were possible. "If you're going to kill him, I want a piece."

"I'm going to take care of it, Mal." Jay intoned gravely. He met her flashing eyes seriously, "He won't touch her again."

* * *

Jay found Evie exactly where he expected to, up in Carlos' treehouse fiddling with their shared chemistry set. She was sitting on her knees in the corner, eyeing some beakers with colored bubbling liquids inside. Her lips were pursed in concentration as she added a white powder to a glass vile of blue sludge and smiled triumphantly when the contents inside turned a vibrant pink. Jay almost smiled himself, seeing Evie in her natural element. Her and Carlos both were such timid things at school or anywhere else, really, that wasn't the treehouse. Here, in this rickety hut, they were both safe to be their nerdy selves.

Jay went to step forward, a board creaking loudly as he went, and Evie gasped, dropping whatever potion she was concocting.

"Oh my evil! Jay!" She snapped half heartedly, "Give me some warning next time."

"My bad, Eves. You looked like you were really into...whatever you were doing."

Evie smiled serenely at him as she whipped out a stained handkerchief from her skirt and began wiping up the mess. "Carlos and I are working on this wrinkle serum for my mom. She's been in a foul mood for weeks because she started noticing some crows feet." Evie's fingers dabbing self-consciously at her own smooth skin surrounding her eyes did not escape Jay's notice. "I thought maybe I could whip something up for her."

"If anyone can, it'd be you two nerds." Jay said affectionately.

Evie laughed, "Thanks, I guess. Anyway, Carlos is doing his chores right now. Cruella seemed like she was in a bad mood so he might be a while." Evie explained, her blue eyes glancing worriedly in the direction of Hell Hall.

Jay plopped himself down on one of the deflated bean bags that Evie and Carlos had sewn together. "That's alright. I came to see you, anyway."

Evie appeared surprised, but politely stored away her potions and crawled over to join Jay on the sad little seats. "What's going on?"

Jay could admit that even though he and Evie ran in the same circle, Mal's gang of misfits, he really didn't know that much about her. He knew the basics, of course, like that she was the Evil Queen's daughter, she was a brainiac when it came to chemistry, she adored fashion and crafting things from nothing, and she loved the shit out of Carlos. But beyond what was obvious to the eye, and what Evie allowed him to gleam from her interactions with the gang, Jay didn't really know her at all. That just made this whole thing terribly awkward. But seeing her now, small and skinny and so very vulnerable to someone as big and cruel as Jafar, he couldn't back down.

"Mal told me something today." Jay paused, meeting Evie's eyes and waiting to see if she might catch on. Her expression remained unchanged. "She told me about something that happened between you and my dad."

Her reaction was instantaneous and so severe, Jay felt like he was watching her turn to stone. Her whole body went rigid and her eyes widened to the point of what looked to be painful. The hands that were placed neatly in her lap, dainty like she had always been taught a lady should be, began to shake.

"Mal shouldn't have told you that." Evie whispered. "I'm sorry she did."

"I'm not." Reaching forward, Jay captured her vibrating hands in his own and squeezed. "I'm going to take care of it, you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"It's not a big deal." Evie's voice was suddenly so small, so fragile, it reminded Jay of cracked glass heating over a flame, so close to shattering. "Mom needed some ingredients for her anti-aging regimen and I didn't have any money so—" She trailed off, swallowing hard. Jay could see the great deal of effort she was putting in to maintaining her composure. "It was just business."

It certainly hadn't sounded like business with the way Mal had described it. "Well, then you won't be conducting anymore of that sort of _business_ with my dad. If you need anything from the shop, you tell me and I'll get it for you, okay?" Jay bounced the girl's hands lightly, a bit of relief washing through him when Evie's lip twitched slightly in the direction of a smile. "Do not worry about Jafar, princess. I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"Please don't cause yourself any trouble." Evie begged, her eyes glistening so earnestly that Jay felt his heart stutter in his chest. Had her eyes always been so expressive? "I know what he—what all our parents—are like. It's my own fault for going and expecting—" She sighed, "Oh, I don't know what I was expecting. Mom was being difficult and I was so hungry." Evie's eyes screwed shut and her head dipped in shame. "I thought if I could get her some good ingredients for her potions, she'd give me back my meal privileges."

Jay wasn't surprised that the Evil Queen denied her daughter food—nothing surprised him anymore on the Isle—but his blood boiled nonetheless and he imagined all the ways he and Mal could dispatch the bitter queen. "It's not your fault, Eves." Jay watched Evie's body language carefully as his hand trailed down her back and rubbed comforting circles. "You're in my circle now, my gang, and no one does that kind of shit to you."

Evie gave a wet laugh. "Don't let Mal hear you say that. She likes to shoulder all of our pain and troubles."

"Mal's shoulders are only so big." Jay sighed, knowing Evie's words were true. "Let me take this one."

"It's really not—"

Jay silenced her by leaning forward and touching their heads together, the hand on her back now rising to rest against the back of her neck. He watched as Evie closed her eyes and released a long breath. Jay's fingers scratched lightly at the beginnings of her scalp, like he would do for Carlos when the boy had a particularly rough day and needed immediate calming down—it was dumb luck that the same maneuver just so happened to work on the princess as well.

"You let me worry about it." Jay whispered. "Part of being a member of our group is not having to deal with everything alone. It's okay to share your troubles with us, with me."

Evie relaxed against Jay until she was practically in his lap. In a way, she reminded Jay of a cat, all lithe and warm and curled against him, just wanting an ounce of affection. His fingers traveled from the base of her scalp fully into the wealth of her blue hair, massaging the delicate skin there. If Evie could pur, Jay believed she would be doing it now.

The two stayed like that for a while, the sun had set and the moon was shining through the tiny cut out windows in the ceiling of the treehouse. Jay could just hear the beginnings of a party stirring up down by the docks when the hatch to the treehouse flipped open and Carlos dragged himself up. The boy looked a mess, a fresh bruise darkening on his cheek and his hands visibly shaking.

"Oh," Carlos squeaked, "Sorry. Am I...interrupting?"

If Evie was a cat, then Carlos surely was a puppy. His head drooped low and his lower lip jutted out in an unintentionally adorable pout. Jay couldn't help but smile and open his free arm.

"Come here."

Carlos crawled over and collapsed into the crook of Jay's arm, practically burying his face in Jay's armpit. Carlos received the same treatment, tender scratching and whispered reassurances that disappeared into the night.

This was his gang. His family. Jay would protect them forever.

* * *

Jafar was a coward, always had been, even during his time of villainy with Jasmine and Aladdin. But here, on the Isle, he was _pathetic_ and Jay used that to his advantage.

"Dad, I need to talk to you."

Jafar was studying a yard of faded golden fabric that had clearly seen much better days in the lush land of Auradon, but would still fetch a stupendous price once placed in the shop's display window. Cruella would likely be the target of this masterful advertisement.

"What is it, boy? And be quick, that bat is bound to be passing through soon with her mutt." Definitely for Cruella.

Ever the dutiful son, Jay moved fast as commanded. He gripped the fabric tight and ripped it from Jafar's hands. The look of utter shock in his father's eyes was so very satisfying and when the man went to start yelling, his fists balled up and ready to strike at his insolent son, Jay rammed the palm of his hand right into Jafar's nose.

Jay could vaguely hear Iago's panicked squawking behind him, but he ignored it as he bent down where Jafar had crumbled and clutched at his gushing nose. Blood stained the ex-vizier's robes and ran in rivers down his chin.

"Listen closely, old man." Jay breathed, "I'm only going to say this once cause if I have to again, I'm going to kill you." Jay wasn't sure if he could or what the ramifications would be if he actually did, but he could be compelling as hell when he needed to be and judging by the way Jafar groaned into his hands, the man was taking this warning very seriously. "Don't fucking touch my friends. Ever. Mal and Carlos and especially Evie are off limits. Got it? You want a piece of ass, you go to the whore houses like everyone else." Jay reached forward, smiling viciously at Jafar's flinch, and gripped his shirt. "You want to beat the shit out of me? Fine. But if you ever think of touching my gang again, I'll break both your legs and throw you to Tick-Tock and his brats in the bay. Are we clear?" He gave the old man a shake for good measure.

"Yes!"

"Good." Jay released Jafar's shirt and watched as the man fell back onto the floor, groaning as he nursed his nose. Jay suspected he probably broke it, but he didn't stay around long enough to find out for sure. He stormed out of the shop, nearly crashing into Iago as the bird flew to his master's side.

When Jay returned later that night, Jafar was shut up in his room, hissing angrily at Iago. When the ex-vizier emerged briefly to grab something from the shop, his nose was wrapped in dirty bandages and he carefully averted his gaze from Jay's without word. That was the first time in his life that Jay could remember his father being speechless.

* * *

"Whatever you did, my mother heard about it." Mal hopped up on Jay's desk after Lady Tremaine had dismissed Evil Schemes early, claiming a headache. Jay and Mal both suspected the woman was simply having hot flashes, given the profuse amount of sweat drenching the hag's skirts. "Jafar was fit to be tied, my mother said. Something about experiencing the ultimate betrayal from his _precious_ son." Mal purred deviously and twirled a wave of purple hair around her finger. "I don't suppose you know anything about that?"

Jay guffawed. Leave it to his father to be an utterly dramatic idiot about the whole thing. "I doubt he said _ultimate _betrayal."

"No, I swear, that's what mother said." Mal could barely contain her laughter. "He was complaining all evening at their last scheming meeting and eventually my mother kicked his ass out cause he wouldn't stop sniveling over his poor nose."

The two shared a truly wicked cackle, turning several heads and chasing away bystanders. Jay watched them scurry with glee as Mal crossed her legs and gave Ginny Gothel a nasty snarl. The girl returned it with her middle finger.

Once the room cleared out, Mal traced two fingers down Jay's arm until they reached his finger tips. She smiled softly, "I knew the day that I made you my right hand, I wouldn't regret it."

"You're so soft for me."

As if to show how _soft_ she truly was, Mal balled up a fist and punched him very _not_ softly in the arm. "Shut the hell up. Come on, I told Evie and Carlos we'd meet them for lunch."

Jay slung his bag over his shoulder and followed the unchallenged gang leader through Dragon Hall, smiling the whole way. He would follow Mal and Evie and Carlos to the ends of the Isle and into Auradon, all the way to the ends of the earth if necessary. This was his family now and he hadn't had to steal it.

He wasn't giving that up. Not to Jafar, not to Maleficent, not to anyone.

Just let them try and take them. It was never wise to steal from a thief.


End file.
